The authorities have made regulatory amendments to paragraphs 5 (a), 117 (9) (a) and 125 (1) (a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). All of these amendments describe the conditions under which the authorities term a relationship as ‘excluded’. These amendments serve to support the change to the minimum age of eligibility for a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner.
The new regulations will read as follows with effect from June 10, 2015:
- 5. For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered
- (a) the spouse or common-law partner of a person if the foreign national is under the age of 18 years;
- (b) the spouse of a person if
- (i) the foreign national or the person was, at the time of their marriage, the spouse of another person, or
- (ii) the person has lived separate and apart from the foreign national for at least one year and is the common-law partner of another person.
- 117. (9) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if
- (a) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner and is under 18 years of age;
- 125. (1) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class by virtue of their relationship to the sponsor if
- (a) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner and is under 18 years of age;
The Coming into Force of the Amended Regulations
The authorities have made changes to the minimum age of a spouse with effect from June 10, 2015. From this date, officers would need to interpret all references to the terms ‘spouse’, ‘common-law partner’ or ‘conjugal partner’ in a manner consistent with these revised regulatory amendments when they process applications across all permanent resident or temporary resident lines of business. As a result, the officers would need to note that the new regulations (in paragraphs 5 (a), 117 (9) (a) and 125 (1) (a)) apply only to applications received on or after the day on which they come into force.
Therefore, officers would need to note that:
- For all sponsorship, permanent resident or temporary resident applications received on or before June 10, 2015, the existing minimum age of eligibility i.e. 16 years would apply
- For all sponsorship, permanent resident or temporary resident applications received after June 10, 2015, the new minimum age of eligibility i.e. 18 years for a spouse or partner would apply
The Procedures
For sponsorship and permanent resident applications, a sponsored spouse or partner or an accompanying spouse or partner would need to meet the minimum age of eligibility at the time Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) receives a complete application. The authorities deem an application as locked-in on the date they receive it. However, this is applicable as long as the application meets completeness requirements. It is worth noting that the receipt of an application refers to an application that bears the date-stamp of a Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office designated to intake applications for a specific permanent resident category or program.
For temporary resident applications, a spouse or partner would need to meet the minimum age of eligibility at the time Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) receives a complete application. The authorities consider an application submitted on paper as received on the day the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) intake office (overseas) date-stamps the application. Similarly, the authorities consider an application submitted electronically as received on the date the applicant submits the application online. The authorities consider an application submitted at a Port of Entry (POE) as received on the date the person makes the application at the Port of Entry (POE).
Therefore, officers reviewing sponsorship, permanent resident or temporary resident applications would need to determine that a person applying as a spouse or partner meets the applicable minimum age, based on the date of receipt of the application. This is the process applicable with effect from June 11, 2015.
So, officers would treat persons identified as a spouse or partner, who are at least 18 years of age, as eligible for processing. In case these persons are 16 or 17 years of age, the officers would check the date of receipt of their applications. If they find the date of receipt of the complete application is on or prior to June 10, 2015, they would treat these individuals as eligible for processing as spouses or partners. It is worth noting that this procedure applies to both principal applicants and the accompanying family members.
Situations could arise where officers come across foreign nationals who married before they were 18 years of age but are 18 years of age or older at the time the authorities receive a complete application. In this scenario, the authorities would process these foreign nationals as spouses, common-law partners or conjugal partners. However, this would be applicable as long as the marriage is valid under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it took place as well as under Canadian law. This is applicable with effect from June 11, 2015.
Source: Citizenship and Immigration